Bobby Drygeese owns and operates B. Dene Adventures, which offers aurora viewing and cultural tours that teach about Yellowknives Dene First Nation traditions in Dettah, N.W.T. He says they have had some guests from elsewhere in Canada this year, but not as many as before the pandemic.
Manager Edward Tse said before the pandemic, roughly 70 per cent of hotel guests came from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China. Now that out-of-territory travellers are returning to the N.W.T., he said about 50 to 60 per cent of bookings are visitors from elsewhere in Canada and the United States.The N.W.T.
Of tourism operators who responded to an N.W.T. government survey in March 2020, 94 per cent said they had fewer bookings and 73 per cent said their revenues had decreased compared to 2019, while 36 per cent said they either laid off or terminated staff. In total, they said, 325 employees were affected.
"These are the markets that take a lot longer to organize … and to build confidence in longer distance travel," he said, adding it generally takes two to three years for international markets to come back.
Yikes at that tweet. Grammar check anyone?
Tourists can only travel to the NWT using fossil fuel.